Winter Spirit
by Hatsu Yukiya
Summary: The Guardians gather to watch the birth of the new immortal entity, Jack Frost.


New spirits being born was kind of a big deal. They may not be Guardian status, but the fact of the matter was that there were a considerably low number of immortals in the world, and a new one hadn't been created for a long while, not since the Thanksgiving turkey man...thing. However, every time a new spirit was put into place by the Man in the Moon—who rarely deemed living beings worthy of immortality, hence the reason there were so few of them—the Guardians always made sure to watch.

Always made sure to watch the birth, that is.

Some people had the wrong idea about the 'birth' of an immortal. It wasn't like a baby being born, it was more of a rebirth than anything; the stripping away of the old, mortal life to be replaced with power, magic, and wonder. Every spirit had a purpose. The Leprechaun spread color, wealth, and light, Cupid spread love and care, even the Thanksgiving turkey-man-thing spread...well, thankfulness. Things and emotions people, not just children, needed.

Thus, when the Man in the Moon announced to North and the other Guardians that a new spirit would be put into place, that was reason enough for the four to gather at the North Pole to watch the event. None of them knew anything about whom or what was being given immortality and joining their ranks.

"I swear to Uluru, if it's another bloody groundhog, I'm skipping out," Bunnymund growled, ears twitching in anticipation and irritation.

"Calm down, it can't be that bad, right? Besides, we can't possibly have two groundhogs," Tooth replied optimistically, looking excited. "Oooh, I'm really looking forward to it. I wonder what they'll be like!" A few of her fairies twittered around her head, mirroring her excitement.

"As long as they care for children, does not matter what they be like," North chipped in gruffly, his heavy Russian accent making his words sound sterner than usual. "It's almost midnight, when will Manny's show start?"

"Yikes," Bunnymund raised his eyebrows, "In a touchy mood, are we?"

"It is five days until Christmas, I have work to do!"

"As do I, but I'm here anyway, and so is Sandy," Tooth pointed out, gesturing to the Sandman. Sandy smiled and flashed thumbs up. North just groaned and rubbed his eyes.

"Let's get this over with, shall we?" The large man turned to the wide opening in the roof of his workshop, silvery moonlight filtering through. "Manny, let's go!"

"Hey, be respectful," Tooth scolded.

The Man in the Moon didn't seem to mind North's attitude much, however, and put his effort into pulling up the large crystal in which the viewing would take place. The group settled closely around the object, gazing deep into the murky depths. There was nothing but darkness for a moment, and then the image cleared.

It showed a pond, a frozen one in a snowy clearing, surrounded by large, thick trees. There were no people in sight at all, and nothing lay on the solid ice apart from an oddly curved branch in the middle.

"Something feels weird, mates," Bunnymund murmured. "There's no one here."

Sandy made a shushing gesture, and the rabbit clamped his jaws shut and returned his attention to the crystal. The Guardians sat in silence for a few more long minutes, before Tooth gasped softly.

"Look at the ice."

The others leaned forward in surprise. The ice covering the pond was cracking, and something was emerging from underneath. No, not something—_someone._ It was a person, who seemed perfectly human, but there were a few things off. He was coming out of solid ice, for one, and didn't seem to be wearing any shoes. His ruffled hair was a frosty shade of white.

"That looks a smidge uncomfortable," Bunnymund breathed, remarking upon how most people would have the telltale signs of hypothermia at this point.

The boy in the crystal floated upwards for a fraction of a second before seeming to come to; his eyes blinked open, revealing irises a clear, icy shade of pale blue. In fact, everything about his immediate person seemed pale, from his hair to his skin. He gazed up at the moon for a moment, a look of wonder on his youthful face.

At that moment, a thought flashed through the minds of the Guardians, courtesy of the Moon Man himself, and they knew who this boy was, his name, and his purpose.

_Jack Frost._

The name was indication enough of his personal power.

"A winter spirit?" Bunnymund gaped, bewildered. "Do we really need one of those?"

"Interesting," North commented, leaning back and stroking his impressive beard. "We've never had a representative for a particular season before. He is not a winter spirit, he is _the _winter spirit. Big difference."

"Excuse me? Aren't I spring?"

"You are hope and new beginnings, so, no."

"That's basically spring, you knobhead."

"Guys, guys!" Tooth called over, interrupting the inevitable argument. "Come look at this, come here!"

North and Bunnymund sent each other a final dirty look before turning back to the crystal. Inside, Jack Frost had picked up the stick that had been lying on the pond and was now running around with it, spreading ice and snow all over the area, laughing.

"He's adorable," Tooth sighed, looking on gently.

"He better learn how to use that stick properly," Bunnymund noted critically as the wind swooped in and accidentally carried the boy off with it. "Otherwise he's just going to be nothing but trouble."

"Oh, be nice, he's new. You can't expect him to be perfect at everything."

"As long as he doesn't mess with Easter, I have no problem, believe me."

"Oh really?"

"Jack Frost," North said softly, a gleam in his eyes. "Welcome to the world."

**A/N:**

**Hehe. Safe and Sound was nearly 4000 words long and now here this is, not even one thousand, if we're not counting the AN. I'm lazy, I guess, and there wasn't a whole lot I could do with this idea anyway.**

**I've seen the movie three times already (and am going to see it a fourth time today and a fifth somewhere down the line in December, possibly) and every time I see the beginning I have to smile because of how friggin **_**cute**_** Jack is when he experiments with his staff for the first time.**

**Thank you for reading and please review!**


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